Zachary hails storm costs

ZACHARY — Mayor David Amrhein told the City Council on Tuesday that the costs to the municipality associated with Hurricane Isaac were low.

The city already has cleaned up most of the debris since the storm struck two weeks ago at a cost of about $15,000, he said.

Food for police and firefighters as well as other city employees on duty due to Isaac cost the city $5,000.

“I heard about some cities that gave them sandwiches. We treated our guys well,” the mayor said.

Police Department and Fire Department overtime amounted to $22,000 and $16,000, respectively.

The mayor estimated that general municipal costs came to $10,000 to $12,000.

“We got together after the storm and the list of things we did right was a lot longer than what we did wrong. Hats off to our city employees,” the mayor said.

Other business taken up by the council included:

CREDIT CARD FEES: The council agreed to set administrative processing fees for credit card transactions at between 2.5 and 5 percent.

Attorney John Hopewell explained that writing the ordinance with a range of percentages as opposed to a flat fee would allow the city to set a percentage that reflects what the credit card company charges.

The council has already approved allowing citizens to use credit or debit cards to pay utility bills, but has not yet contracted with a credit card company.

PLANTATION HOUSE: The council put off acting on a proposed resolution to terminate the donation of the Annison Plantation House to the city.

Amrhein told the council that the BREC Foundation is interested in the antebellum home, which was given to the city in 2002 by owner Ethel Brabham Annison.

During the council’s August meeting, the mayor said that the city had spent over $100,000 maintaining the historic house.

JAKE BRAKES: After a public hearing, the council voted to remove all references in city ordinances as well as signs to “jake brakes” or “jake breaking.” The compression release braking devices are mostly manufactured by Jacobs Vehicles Systems Inc. and are used on commercial vehicles with diesel engines.

Attorney John Hopewell told the council that the company informed Zachary that using the terms represent trademark infringement.

Many municipalities, including Zachary, ban the use of the engine-based braking systems within city limits due to noise pollution.